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AVE – Finally Declared Dead in Barcelona?

The first global standard for public relations measurement has been agreed in Barcelona by delegates from 33 countries – and the ‘Barcelona Declaration of Research Principles’ clearly denounces the use of Advertising Value Equivalents (AVEs) as a way of measuring PR and communications activities.

The principles are as follows:

Goal setting and measurement are fundamental aspects of any PR programmes

Media measurement requires quantity and quality – cuttings in themselves are not enough

Advertising Value Equivalents (AVEs) do not measure the value of PR and do not inform future activity

Social media can and should be measured

Measuring outcomes in preferred to measuring media results

Business results can and should be measured where possible

Transparency and Replicability are paramount to sound measurement

The agreement was reached at the 2nd European Summit on Measurement after the leaders of five global PR and Measurement and Evaluation bodies, plus 200 delegates from around the world voted overwhelmingly to adopt the seven key principles. On the platform together for the first time were The Global Alliance, IPR Measurement Commission, AMEC, PRSA and ICCO.

What comes next will be interesting as the five bodies are going to debate things further and – presumably, as they haven’t said – come up with some refinements. While none of the principles are new, and many practitioners would think them part of good basic practice, it is certainly useful to have this agreement at our disposal. What do you think?